Come Dine With Me
by pullingbeckettspigtails
Summary: Prompt: AU - Castle and Beckett were both set up on blind dates at the same restaurant, but their dates don't show and they start talking and hit it off. (Anonymous prompt from the castlefanficprompts tumblr).


**AU - Castle and Beckett were both set up on blind dates at the same restaurant, but their dates don't show and they start talking and hit it off.**

**In my mind, this is during 2x14 ("The Third Man") if you're looking for a reference, but I've made Alexis younger (aged six).**

**Hope you enjoy!**

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><p>Rick smoothed down the front of his navy shirt self-consciously as he noticed the three smartly dressed waiters to the right side of his table eyeing him from top to bottom. He tried to ignore the pity in their eyes, but only ended up taking another gulp of his water, breaking eye contact with them.<p>

Of course, his first date after divorcing his ex-wife Meredith, and the woman didn't even show up.

Way to get back in the game, Rick.

Maybe he should've listened to his Mother when she teased about him about going along with the blind date that his friend Damien had set up for him. He took another sip from his drink, and choked slightly as he saw the next customer walk in.

She donned a sleek, asymmetrical red dress that hung off her left shoulder, her short brunette hair intricately curled and pinned. The woman entered at a gingerly place, her eyes scanning the large room as she hovered about the tables. She frowned slightly, her brows furrowing at her forehead.

Then, her soft gaze met his piercing one.

She seemed to contemplate her next move for a split moment, then warily walked over to his table, her right fingers fiddling with the gold bangles plastered on her wrist.

"Excuse me," She greeted in a clear tone, "Are you Brad Dekker?"

Castle's first idea was to respond with 'I could be', but he quickly decided that sounded too sleazy to use on a beautiful and sophisticated woman like the one that currently stood in front of him. (Or any woman, his brain supplied).

"No, I'm afraid not." He finally answered, her shoulders drooping slightly at his reply, her sharp collarbone becoming more pronounced, "I don't suppose you're Amanda Livingstone?" He said, though he knew that it was hopeless.

She shook her head, a few stray hairs falling from her up-do, "Okay, sorry to disturb you." She said politely, and then she turned to an empty table and sat down with a large sigh.

He tried to keep his gaze fixated on the door as it had been previously, waiting for a gorgeous blonde to walk in.

But he couldn't; not with a gorgeous brunette sitting a few tables away.

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><p>Kate swirled her deep coloured wine around in its tall stemmed glass, fervently denying the want to stand up and go home. To curl up in a nice, warm bath instead of being sat on a table for two, as one.<p>

She'd already texted Lanie multiple times; the messages ranging from '_did he say anything to you about cancelling?_' to '_did you set me up with a fake man to make me feel better?_' to '_I'm just texting you to look busy, because the waiters keep staring at me_.' most of them ending with '_This is all your fault._'

With a deep sigh, she placed her phone down onto the tablecloth, but a shadow was suddenly cast over her shoulder, making her head whip up hopefully.

A teenaged waiter with floppy blonde hair announced his arrival with a small cough and hurriedly put down a plate of marinated olives.

"Oh, I didn't order this." Kate argued feebly, looking up at the boy.

"I know," He replied curtly, his voice riddled with sarcasm as he turned around and gestured to the side, "_He_ did."

Beckett followed his gaze to see the man she had briefly talked to earlier looking over intensely at her, before quickly snapping his head to the menu that was laid out in front of him, as if he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

With a final look back down at the starter placed in front of her, she nodded once to the waiter, "Thanks, I guess." She shrugged, but the boy remained in place, a sigh escaping his lips.

Before Kate could inquire as to why he was waiting, he spoke up, "He also sent… a message."

Her eyebrows shot up.

"'I didn't get to say this earlier, but you look simply stunning in scarlet'". The boy relayed timidly.

Beckett pursed her lips in thought, feeling the mystery man's gaze falling upon her as she reacted, trying not to give much away by her facial expressions.

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><p>Castle glanced up from his puzzle game app (which was draining his battery, but he didn't care, he didn't suspect he'd be here for much longer) and saw that the waiter from before was back, but with a small bowl filled with vegetable soup.<p>

"I-" He began, only to be cut off.

"This is from the lady over there." He explained in a quiet voice.

Rick nodded as the plate was put down in front of him, "Did she say anything?"

"Said 'Nice use of alliteration. You should be a writer'."

Castle smirked but his face soon dropped, his mind in a flurry of thoughts. Was she teasing him, or did she not know that he was a writer? Well, if she knew, she wouldn't ask if his name was Brad. But what if she was joking and he came off looking like the idiot? Okay, he should not be reading this much into five words from a stranger.

"What should I respond?" Rick questioned out loud, earning a barely audible groan from the blonde boy, "Sorry. I'll… One second, let me think…"

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><p>Kate rolled her eyes as she saw the boy returning to her table, but bit her lower lip in anticipation anyway.<p>

"Here." He said promptly, placing a small plate offering a range of fruits down with a thud.

"He said 'figures'."

She leant back into her chair slightly, a pensive look running across her features.

"Oh, sorry. I should be clearer. He said 'hmm, figures' with a smirk." The boy deadpanned.

Kate nodded, then replied with her response. She could've sworn she heard series of grumbles constituting the words 'college' and 'couple bucks' and 'waste of time'.

She tried to stifle her chuckle. And failed.

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><p>Kate refused to look behind her, no matter how strong the urge was. She could feel his eyes boring into her back, but nonetheless had remained message-less for about five minutes.<p>

She thought back to what she had said; 'Anything I would've read?'

It wasn't too much of a forward question, was it?

Before she could ponder about those four select words any longer, she felt something hit her bare shoulder.

She turned quickly and saw multiple balled up napkins pooled around the four wooden legs of her chair.

So that's what took so long. He had awful aim.

Their eyes finally connected, his blue ones swimming with a sense of pride as her hazel ones glazed over with curiosity.

She picked up all of the white pieces, (dreading to inconvenience the poor waiter once more as he would clean up at the end of his shift), and unravelled them all, the five squares all showing the same message.

_You've read this._

Kate rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she picked up her purse from where it was situated on the floor by her feet, grasping at a black ballpoint pen.

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><p>After she finished writing, she turned to look over her shoulder, instantly grabbing the man's attention. She rose an eyebrow cheekily as she tried to convey her unspoken message; watch me get this in one shot.<p>

Unfortunately for her, the material was lighter than she had expected, and only made it three quarters of the way to him.

She understood his message loud and clear as a smug grin appeared on his face. However, he rose from his chair and bent over to pick up the note, chuckling to himself as he read the scrawled words.

_Is that your wiseass way of telling me you're woefully unpublished?_

He hastily picked up his pen, trying not to focus on his mystery woman biting her lip a few mere metres away from him.

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><p>This time, the napkin managed to make it to her table on the first shot, (prompting a small exclaim of triumph from the writer), and she quickly unfolded it.<p>

_22 published best sellers, honey._

She knew the 'honey' plastered onto the end was a tease, an attempt to make her insides flutter, but she'd be damned if she let him win this.

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><p>She felt a small rush of pride when she saw his jaw drop slightly at the return of the note.<p>

_Must not be that best-selling if I've never heard of them, babe._

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><p>He hurriedly wrote down his reply, and pitched the balled up napkin in her direction once again, ignoring the strange glances he was receiving from the other customers for their antics.<p>

_Maybe you just aren't into the genre of murder mysteries._

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><p><em>I get enough murder mysteries at work.<em>

His eyes widened as he quickly picked up his almost finished glass of wine and scurried over to her table.

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><p>Kate's face scrunched in confusion as she saw his reaction, laughing to herself as she heard a small gasp fall from his lips. Soon enough, he was sitting down in the chair opposite her, a wide grin seemingly plastered onto his features.<p>

"Hi?" She breathed out, an eyebrow quirking upwards.

"You do murder mystery things!?" He exclaimed, sounding overjoyed.

Kate nodded, "Yeah, homicide detective."

"That's so cool."

She laughed at his childish reaction, but otherwise stayed silent until his voice piped up once more, "I was hoping to write a new book with a female lead, do you mind if I ask you some research questions?"

Kate shook her head minutely in wonder, "You don't even know my name."

"Ooh! Can I guess it?"

She gave a flick of her manicured hand, "Go ahead, writer-boy."

His eyes narrowed as he scanned her thin frame for a few seconds.

"Nikki." He said matter-of-factly, causing Kate to burst out into laughter.

"Where did that come from!?"

"You look like a Nikki!" He defended, a small pout emerging.

"Well sorry to disappoint, but I'm not a Nikki."

"Was I at least kinda right?" He said in a whining tone.

Kate hummed in thought, "You got the K right. It begins with K."

He suddenly perked up in his chair, "Karen."

"No."

"Kaitlin."

"No."

"Kelly."

"No."

"Kara."

"No."

"Krystal."

"With a K?"

"Yeah."

"No."

"Kitty."

"What homicide Detective would call themselves _Kitty_?"

"Good point. Kaylee."

"No."

"Kim."

"No."

"Kassie."

"No."

"Kate."

Silence.

"Kate!"

"Took you long enough," She smirked, "I didn't even know there were that many names beginning with K."

"Okay, Kate, you go now!" He said excitedly, prompting Beckett to roll her eyes, "Come on! I'll start you off. I have a K too."

"Kevin."

"No."

"Kieran."

"Nope."

"Kaleb."

"Nuh-uh."

"Kalum."

"With a K?"

"I bet it's more popular than Krystal."

"Touché. But no."

"Ken."

"Nope."

Kate slumped her shoulders, "I don't think I know anymore."

His mouth opened slightly, "Come on! You're a detective!"

"Usually we have a suspect's name." She explained with a glare, "I haven't had to do shit like this since I was in Vice."

His mouth gaped open at her words, unsure if the feeling pooling at the bottom of his abdomen was due to hearing her curse or because she just basically admitted to-

"Close your mouth." She scoffed, "It's not what it's shown as in movies."

"So you've never worked undercover as a prostitute and given a suspect a lap dance to distract him, then pulled your gun on him?"

"Can't say that I have."

"That's a shame, I thought Nik- the female lead could moonlight as a stripper for some extra cash. Interest the readers. Get a different angle. All that."

She bit her lower lip gently and moved her chair around the circular table to lean into his space, speaking in a hushed tone, whispering each word into the shell of his ear, "Well, there is one thing that I've never tried, and I've been wanting to since I got here, and I just can't bear it any longer…"

He gulped audibly, the deep purple tie around his neck feeling like it was being tightened by her with every syllable she uttered. She looked seductively at him from underneath her long black painted eyelashes for a few brief moments, then suddenly snapped back into her place.

"The food, I'm starved." She finished, a teasing grin emerging as she took in his newly flushed cheeks.

"Just for that, I'm not going to tell you my name." He quipped, "I'm going to remain your mystery man for the whole evening." He raised his hand in the air in order to catch the attention of one of the workers, his eyes never straying from her.

"However will I survive?" Kate replied dryly with a smile.

Before he could respond, the owner of the restaurant walked over, his arms outstretched to clap a hand on Castle's back.

"Rick! How are you? Long time no see."

Kate's eyebrows raised upwards.

"And, the mystery is ruined." Rick grumbled.

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><p>Once they had ordered their main meals and the owner had walked back to the kitchen, Rick felt a palm colliding with his forearm, resulting in a loud smack sound.<p>

"Ow! What was that for?" He whined, rubbing the soon to be sore spot on his arm for emphasis.

"You said your name began with a K!" Kate huffed.

He smirked in response, "No. I said my name 'had a K'."

"You said too, which implied that your name was like mine. I.e. began with a K."

Castle opened his mouth to rebuttal her statement, but a sharp ringing tone from his pocket interrupted them.

He glanced down to the caller ID and his eyes instantly widened, making Beckett's narrow in worry.

"Everything okay?" She asked, selfishly hoping that it was, so she could spend more time with her new acquaintance.

"I hope so," He muttered, "Do you mind if I go outside to take this?" The question came as a flurry of words, but Kate understood nonetheless and nodded.

He quickly stood up, Kate only hearing a "Hey sweetheart" as he walked away from the table, her mind whizzing at the possibilities of whom was on the other side of the line.

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><p>Rick had barely sat back down in his seat for a moment before he noticed the confused look etched onto his companion's features, so he decided to put her out of her misery.<p>

"My daughter," He explained.

"I didn't ask." Kate replied, trying to act nonchalant.

"Yeah, you were _not asking_ very loudly." He quipped. Kate looked like she was about to apologise, so Rick cut her off, "She's six, seven in…" He paused and looked down at his fingers, causing Kate to bite the inside of her cheek to hide her amusement, "five and a half months."

"What's her name?" She inquired, wanting to learn more about the little girl who placed this much of a grin on her Father's face.

"Alexis." He smiled, "My Mother's watching her now, so I just wanted to make sure that everything was okay and nothing was burned down."

Kate forced a smile at his joke, but he could see the unspoken question on her lips, _'Your Mother, not her Mother?'_

"You're right, Detective." Her head tilted slightly, "Her Mother isn't around." He explained, but the statement didn't have the same feeling of woe as it would have held a few months back.

"You're raising her on your own?" Beckett pondered aloud.

The writer nodded, "It's difficult, but worth it." He explained curtly.

The two stayed sat quietly for a moment, then Rick's voice broke the silence. "You're wondering what happened to her Mother now, aren't you?"

"Maybe you should be the Detective and not me." Kate teased as she attempted to lighten the situation.

He let out a small sigh before continuing, "Her Mother, Meredith, cheated on me, back when Alexis was two." He heard the small intake of breath from Kate, but continued nonetheless, "She was never into the Mom thing, to be honest. Alexis was an accident, and we were both terrified, but for different reasons."

Kate's eyebrows furrowed together, "What do you mean?"

"I was worried about how I was going to raise a child, if I could provide for him or her, what sort of a Father I'd be, all that sort of stuff. Meredith's first thought was how this was going to affect her career, which is a perfectly logical thought I guess, but at the first check up, I asked whether the baby was happy and healthy, and she asked how much weight she would gain over the next few months."

"Wow." Kate breathed out.

"Yeah, then she didn't want to breast feed, worried that it would 'ruin her body', and she wouldn't do anything that could be remarked as gross, such as diapers and dealing with vomit. So I guess I've kind of been raising Alexis on my own since day one but…"

"It's different when you literally have no-one there by your side, right?" Kate guessed, and apparently hit the nail on the head by the look Rick gave her.

"Yeah." He replied meekly, Kate noticing his change in behaviour as he looked down at the table shyly, "Sorry, I've just unloaded all that on you, haven't I? I shouldn't do that with someone I just met."

"What? Do you usually only share your backstory with people that have reached level 4 of friendship?" She teased, grateful for the upturning of Rick's lips. "Hey," His eyes locked onto hers, "I'm sorry."

Kate reached forward and laid her delicate hand atop of his, her thumb gently stroking the top of his palm. His gaze instantly softened, eyes now shimmering with admiration instead of sadness. She smiled warmly in response, as he turned his hand underneath hers, so their palms were connected. The two opened and closed their mouths multiple times, wanting to break the silence, unsure if it was awkward for the other.

"Picture." Castle finally stuttered.

"What?"

"Would you like to see a picture of Alexis?" He clarified with a bashful look.

Kate nodded earnestly, "Sure."

The hand that wasn't captured by Kate's went to his pocket, carefully bringing out the phone and unlocking it. He brought the screen midway between him and her, as Kate shuffled closer towards him.

She grinned instantly as she saw the photo that illuminated the screen; a small girl with crystal blue eyes and fiery red hair that was put up into pigtails (though most strands were haphazardly falling out), a toothy grin lighting up her whole face as she grasped at the stuffed toy monkey with her small hands.

"She's beautiful." Kate admitted, warmth apparent in her voice.

"You smell like cherries."

Beckett looked up at the sound of his hushed tone, finding that his face was much closer than she realised. Before she could stop herself, her eyes fell down to his mouth. Once she chastised herself and hurriedly glanced back up, she noticed that his gaze was now glued to her slightly parted lips.

Without giving it too much thought, Rick leaned in slowly, waiting for Kate to travel the last few centimetres, making sure that he wasn't stepping too far. She smiled slightly at his consideration and began to move forward, but a loud cough next to them snapped them away from the moment.

"I've got one lamb steak with potatoes." A woman with a high ponytail offered, a blush appearing on her cheeks that almost rivalled Kate's.

Castle simply raised his hand, not trusting his voice as he cleared his throat.

"Which means the penne pollo picante is for you." The waitress concluded, gently placing the plate in front of Kate, who responded with a quiet mumble of 'thanks'.

Once the worker had left, the two looked at each other, unsure where to go from here.

"So, isn't this what you wanted to do?" Castle said, bringing back the statement Beckett had teased him with earlier.

"Maybe it's not all I want to do." Kate replied as she popped a piece of salad into her mouth, making Rick thankful that he hadn't starting eating yet, or else he'd definitely be choking.

And by the look in her eyes, she was well aware of that fact.

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><p>The meal was spent mostly in silence, interspersed with few select words and laughs as the two continued to become acquainted with each other.<p>

Once they had both finished and the waitress had taken their plates, they found themselves unsure of where to go from here.

Kate opened her mouth to speak, but Rick halted her, "Erm, you've got some…" He motioned towards her mouth.

"Oh." She raised her napkin and swiped at the corners of her lips, cleaning up the small red smudges of tomato sauce that had formed, "Better?"

"Hmm, kind of?" He answered meekly.

Kate licked her lips thoroughly before wiping her mouth with the fabric again, with slightly more force this time.

"How about… now?" She began to ask, but noticed that Castle's gaze was once again fixated onto her lips.

"Yeah, good. It's… good." He mumbled, causing Kate to roll her eyes.

"Just good?" She replied as she moved in closer to him.

"Uh, really good. Great."

"For a writer, you're not too great with adjectives."

"Well, usually I am, but something's distracting me right now."

"Maybe you should give into that distraction."

His reply was a swift movement that brought his mouth to hers, Kate's hands instantly placing themselves on each side of his cheek, as his weaved between her frame and the back of her chair so he could caress her sides with gentle circling motions. One of her hands moved upwards, fingers grasping at the neatly trimmed hairs at the nape of his neck. The action was reciprocated with Rick's tongue slowly stroking her lower lip, which she instantaneously moved, allowing their tongues to collide, eliciting noises of content from both partners.

After a few moments, the two broke apart with near silent chuckles, their foreheads staying connected.

"Where to next?" Kate asked breathlessly.

"My place?" Rick offered, hoping he wasn't being too presumptuous.

"What about your Mom and your six year old daughter?"

Rick hummed, "Good point."

"Do you think that, if you asked your Mom nicely, she could watch Alexis for the night?" Kate inquired in a whisper, her lips meandering over to his cheek.

"I'm sure…" He paused as Kate's lips reached his jaw, "that could be arranged."

"Good." She replied, mumbling the words into his skin.

"I'll pay for dinner."

"Okay, then I'll provide dessert."

"Looks like you're making me the dessert." Rick quipped.

"Well, we could always go for more than one… serving." She whispered as she nibbled his ear lobe.

Suddenly, Rick grabbed Kate's hand and ran up to the counter hastily, Kate's laughter bubbling up as he almost dropped his wallet with his fumbling hand.

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><p><strong>Well, I wanted this to be a quick oneshot and it turned into 4k words. Sorry not sorry.<strong>

**But what I am sorry about is the lack of posting. Turns out my Uni thinks handing its students 3 assignments before Christmas break is a good idea. Not that we have social lives or anything. (And by social life, I mean sitting in front of my laptop at 2am, writing fanfiction and flailing at Castle sneak peeks. Obviously.)**

**Thanks for reading! Favourite/review if you feeling extra lovely :)**

**Lou xo**


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